Katonah First Responder Remembers 9/11

In the decade since Sept. 11, things have changed for Robin Lynn Nickson. She has a different job, has seen her son get married, and she bought a beach home on the Jersey Shore.

What hasn't changed is the dramatic images she so clearly remembers from the day the Twin Towers fell.

Nickson, 47, was a first responder, sent as a member of the Katonah-Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps to become part of the Westchester brigade who would support New York City emergency workers.

"I'll never forget what I saw at Yonkers Raceway [a staging area for Westchester personnel]," she said. "Army tankers. F14 fighter jets flying overhead. National Guard troops. It was just surreal."

She also saw Shea Stadium's parking lot unlike she'd ever seen it—filled with ambulances from towns in the tri-state area. She walked through a Times Square devoid of traffic.

"We went to New York Presbyterian Hospital to treat patients. Only there was no one to treat that day," remembers Nickson, a former captain with the KBHVAC who had become a nurse two years before 9/11. "We just sat in the ambulance bay."

Her crew made their way downtown. At Chelsea Piers she saw packs of search dogs. And finally she had the chance to offer someone a sliver of comfort.

"One fireman came into our ambulance to rest. He told us that he'd been with a new recruit, a 22-year-old firefighter fresh out of training, who had seen bodies coming out of the World Trade Center. He said he had no idea how that young man was going to get back to work," said Nickson.

Sheets of paper swirled around her as she saw personal effects from the victims lying on the street. "There was paper everywhere, flying in the air, and then you'd see a family photo, maybe from someone's desk, or a shoe, a briefcase...these are the images still in my head."

Eventually, she treated someone who needed medical attention, taping up a fireman's injured wrist. He went back to the pile of rubble, Nickson said.

Stationed downtown for only 24 hours, Nickson returned home to her husband and son, changed forever by what she'd seen. But though many lived life more cautiously following the terrorist attack, Nickson went down to Canal Street to shop just three weeks later.

"I've always had a philosophy of living life to the fullest, and I just can't live any other way," she said.

She eventually cut back on her hours with the ambulance corps and quit, focusing on her new job as an ambulatory surgery nurse in the emergency room at Northern Westchester Hospital, where she's worked for the last ten years. 

"I'd always wanted to be a nurse," said the former Pepsi sales analyst. "It's more important than counting soda bottles."

And though she said she'll never get the images that can still make her cry out of her head, she lives without fear of another attack on America.

"We bought a place on the Jersey Shore and we are enjoying ourselves. Life goes on."

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Patch, through its parent company, AOL, is involved in a project called ActionAmerica. The project is a collaboration of several corporations, individuals and non-profits organizations designed to honor those affected by the events of 9/11 and unify the country through postive action.

On the Action America site, you can share your 9/11 stories, schedule community service hours to serve, or donate to either the 9/11 Memorial or the Wounded Warriors Project. Also be sure to "like" the Action America Facebook Page.